Stay With Me - A KathNiel Story

Chapter 5

"What? Why?" Amanda questioned, but she was already getting up from the couch and heading towards where she kept her shoes. She could feel her brother's eyes on her, the confusion etched into his expression.

"I just need your help... follow the path along and you'll find me on one of the benches, okay? Please?" Miles begged and Amanda sighed, slipping on her old sneakers.

"I'm on my way." She vowed, before hanging up the phone and she pulled on her jacket before heading out of the house, forgetting about Richard entirely - she was terrified that something had happened to her girlfriend at the party.

"She's coming," Miles said to Kath, looking over at her. Even in the darkness, she could see how battered Kath was - it scared her to think that the men who hurt her could have even killed her if they hadn't seen Miles come under the bridge and ran off. Kath didn't have any belongings, she was entirely on her own - the thought of what would have happened to her if she passed away didn't bear thinking about either. It made her wonder if Kath had any family anywhere, why a girl who looked to be her own age was homeless.

"I do-don't want to b-be a bother... I-I'm fine." Kath went to stand up, but Miles grabbed onto her arm and gently pulled her back - Kath wasn't even strong enough to get herself up from the bench, she was shaking so badly it was like she was having some form of seizure, a mixture of the pain and the cold.

"You're not a bother, Kath, you need help and that's what I'm giving you - we'll clean you up, you can have a shower and you can have some fresh clothes... you can spend the night at my place and if you want to leave after that, then after breakfast I can pack you a bag of essentials and you can go," Miles said and Kath's eyes filled with tears. She was terrified of trusting people, terrified they'd let her down or harm her.

"Miles?" A voice called and Kath whimpered as Miles stood up from the bench, keeping her head down as Amanda ran over to Miles, kissing her lips softly and Miles kissed her back for a moment. "What's going on? You have blood on you!" Amanda gasped, checking Miles up and down for any signs that she was harmed, but she couldn't see anything in the very dim lighting from the overhead street lamps.

"It's not mine." Miles breathed, turning to look back at Kath and Amanda's eyes widened at the sight of the girl who was obviously homeless but was also very obviously badly beaten.

"Oh my Gosh... what happened?" Amanda asked.

"I saw her earlier and gave her money for a blanket because it's getting so cold, the store wouldn't accept the money and she got robbed," Miles said and Amanda sighed, kneeling in front of Kath, shushing her as she instantly recoiled.

"Hey, hey... it's okay. Can I have a look?" Amanda asked softly and Kath just kept her head down.

"I need your help getting her back to my dorm," Miles said and Amanda looked back at her, shock clear on her face - she was overwhelmed.

"I-It's okay... I keep te-telling her I'm fine." Kath breathed, going to try and stand again but Amanda instantly pushed her very gently back down onto the bench.

"You're not fine... listen to me, okay? We'll get you to Miles's dorm - my brother and I are training to be doctors... I'll call him on the way and he'll meet us there and we can get you checked out." Amanda said softly and Miles breathed a sigh of relief that her girlfriend was willing to help. She was glad that Richard was around too, since as he was very close to being a fully qualified doctor and he'd be able to help them with Kath, getting her cleaned up and giving her the right medication if she needed any.

"O-One night." Kath breathed and Amanda nodded her head.

"One night," Amanda assured her.

"Okay." Kath breathed. Miles and Amanda both helped Kath up from the bench, supporting her and it broke their hearts as she gave a muffled scream of pain.

"We'll take this nice and slow, okay? Your pace." Miles promised and they very slowly and steadily started making their way towards Amanda's car. Kath couldn't even remember the last time she was in a car.

"Here, sweetie, get in the passenger seat - you'll be closer to the heat." Amanda encouraged as she opened the passenger door but Kath instantly tensed and Amanda shut the passenger door and opened the one to the backseat instead.

It was less than five minutes later that they were on their way to Miles's dorm, taking the short drive there.

"Those guys really didn't touch you, did they?" Amanda asked as she drove, holding Miles's hand as her girlfriend sat in the passenger seat.

"No - just said the usual," Miles mumbled and Amanda sighed, running her thumb across the back of Miles's hand.

"W-What are you talking about?" Kath asked and Miles turned her head to look at her.

"Homophobes," Miles said simply and Kath shook her head, her arms wrapped tightly around her ribs as big tears ran down her cheeks because of the agony.

"They're a-assholes." Kath choked out.